Tiana Porta wins appeal on severity of sentence over assault charge

A glamorous young woman goaded someone she had punched in the face at the Red Cow hours after the attack calling her a ‘f****** slut’ and asked ‘how’s your face feeling?’.

A young woman who punched another woman during a night out at the Red Cow Hotel, before boasting about the event later on Snapchat, has appealed the severity of her sentence.

Tiana Porta, 22, of Werrington, was convicted last year on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the incident on August 17, 2019.

She had pleaded not guilty to the charge, arguing another woman had hit the victim, but was found guilty after a hearing before Magistrate Fiona Toose last year.

According to the victim, who we will not name, she and Porta had been friends until she was “sexually assaulted” by a mutual friend and Porta took his side prior to the incident.

Tiana Porta was found guilty of punching a woman during a night out at the Red Cow Hotel, but avoided a conviction. Picture: Facebook

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She said in a statement she was drinking at the Red Cow with two friends when she saw Ms Porta and her friends at another table.

One of Ms Porta’s friends then walked over to the victim and told her she’d accused her brother of rape before Ms Porta came over and claimed “he’s in jail because of you”.

Ms Porta then punched the victim in the right eye, causing severe bruising.

After the incident, Ms Porta made two Snapchat videos in which she called the victim a “f****** slut” and asked “how’s your face feeling?”.

In the second video, she made reference to the victim being “in the f****** gutter”.

Tiana Porta was put on a two-year conditional release order for a charge of common assault. Picture: Facebook

In court, Ms Porta claimed another woman had punched the victim, and another defence witness claimed Ms Porta was on the dancefloor and nowhere near the victim when the punch was thrown.

In Penrith District Court, Judge Siobhan Herbert confirmed Magistrate Toose’s finding of guilt, saying she found Ms Porta’s and the defence witnesses’ evidence to be “inconsistent and lacking credibility”.

“Ms Porta had motive, which she gleefully detailed in Snapchat videos,” Judge Herbert said.

However, a subsequent severity appeal was granted, and Ms Porta’s lawyer successfully argued for no conviction to be recorded.

Tiana Porta punched a woman at the Red Cow.

She was sentenced to a conditional release order. Pictures: Facebook

“There’s been no acceptance of guilt, but it’s one punch, so it’s towards the lower range of seriousness,” he said.

“It’s likely she won’t reoffend.”

Judge Herbert called the offending “immature”, but quashed the conviction based on Ms Porta’s young age and clean criminal history.

“The Snapchat videos are disgusting, she took action to humiliate the victim,” she said.

“However, she’s young and has had no offences before or since the incident.”

Ms Porta was sentenced to a two-year conditional release order.

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